Subculture, style, chavs and consumer capitalism: Towards a critical cultural criminology of youth

This article examines current controversies in youth culture studies and relates them to recent developments in ‘cultural criminology’. On the one hand, post-subcultural theorists argue the concept of ‘subculture’ is redundant and obsolete and should be replaced by less bounded or rigid concepts, such as ‘neo-tribe’, which supposedly better capture the essence of identity formation and lifestyle choices in postmodern consumer culture. On the other hand, critics argue postmodern subcultural theory is an apology for consumerism and posit the continuing relevance of social class as an analytical category. In the last decade or so, and unbeknownst to those working in youth culture studies, cultural criminologists have attempted to adapt ‘traditional’ subcultural theory to new experiences of ‘transgression’ which now emerge in the transition to late modernity. Cultural criminology nevertheless has poststructural tendencies. By examining the ‘chav’ phenomenon in Britain as well as research in youth transitions under ‘consumer capitalism’, this article argues that ‘old’ theories and concepts, such as subculture, ought not be so readily disregarded and discarded, and that the notion of ‘style’ remains applicable to some young people who are marginalized and disadvantaged. The article thus proposes a ‘critical cultural criminology’ of youth.